The Loop is good fun even in it's one note joke (his life sucks but doesn't really and he parties too much but all is fixed by a marketing meeting at the end) but I find the two shows EERILY similar.

I suppose having the Asian receptionist on The Loop guest as the Asian doctor on Free Ride didn't help.

Seems like they should be next to each other and not at opposite ends of the week. In a perfect world where Malcolm in the Middle hadn't been sent to the Futurama/Critic death slot to die they could've made a pretty good block; but not on Friday... you're an idiot, Fox.

I expect I'll add Teachers to this list pretty soon, but I'm trying to spare Sons and Daughters my cursed taste. Then again, I don't think that worked for the Crumbs. Though I did watch ONE episode of that and liked it, so it may be JUSTANOTHERVICTIM.

Oh, and I DAMN WELL better not have to add Everwood to this list. Let's hope that CW press release "slip up" was legit.

In memoriam: Jake in Progress [good show given a second season as some sort of odd time/money wasting joke]

According to TV.com, Free Ride is on FOX on Sundays at 9:30 Eastern."Free Ride, a partially improvised comedy, chronicles recent UC Santa Barbara graduate Nate Stahlings (Josh Dean) as he moves back home with his parents to his small hometown of Johnson City, MO. Once home he struggles to find direction in his post-graduate life as he hooks up with former classmates Amber Danwood (Erin Cahill) and Mark Dove (Dave Sheridan)."

The Loop, meanwhile, airs on FOX on Thursdays at 8:30 Eastern."This is the story of Sam Sullivan, the youngest executive at the corporate headquarters of a major airline and the first of his friends to get a real job.

He tries to find a way to cope with the demands of his career social demands of his roommates.

His roommates are his brother Sully; his college pal/medical student Piper; and Lizzy, who tends bar at their local hangout and is oblivious to the fact that everything always goes her way because she's so good looking."

I like Free Ride. I should probably hate it, but it has some very funny moments. I love the fact that his best friend has a kid and goes to bed early with his wife. I went through that with a buddy of mine. The competition between the new and old best friends last night had me laughing.

Of course, I'm waiting for the "They cancel Arrested Development for THIS crap" reply in the thread.

I can't bring myself to watch either of them. I think I caught the "too many ads before the shows debuted" syndrome. Maybe I just watch too much FOX as it is. I'm also a little peeved that they'd bump "American Dad" for a few months in order to try to subject me to their new shows - that tactic didn't work with "The War at Home" and it ain't working now.

I read that the ratings for "Sons & Daughters" plummeted between weeks one and two - if I had to guess, I'd say it can't handle the competition that it's up against. (I'm still giving my eyes to "The Unit" for now)

Anybody watch "Conviction?" Again, I saw so many ads during the Olympics that I made up lyrics to that damn song (nothing too creative; more along the lines of "I'm SOOOO damn tiiiiiirrrred / of this fucking song") but it had MILO in it so really I should have at least given it a shot - especially when NBC tried to get me to watch it by putting up a rerun on Saturday when nothing else was on, except I think that was the one Saturday we actually left the house, so they were foiled again.

I can't bring myself to watch either of them. I think I caught the "too many ads before the shows debuted" syndrome. Maybe I just watch too much FOX as it is. I'm also a little peeved that they'd bump "American Dad" for a few months in order to try to subject me to their new shows - that tactic didn't work with "The War at Home" and it ain't working now.

I read that the ratings for "Sons & Daughters" plummeted between weeks one and two - if I had to guess, I'd say it can't handle the competition that it's up against. (I'm still giving my eyes to "The Unit" for now)

Anybody watch "Conviction?" Again, I saw so many ads during the Olympics that I made up lyrics to that damn song (nothing too creative; more along the lines of "I'm SOOOO damn tiiiiiirrrred / of this fucking song") but it had MILO in it so really I should have at least given it a shot - especially when NBC tried to get me to watch it by putting up a rerun on Saturday when nothing else was on, except I think that was the one Saturday we actually left the house, so they were foiled again.

I quite enjoy "Free Ride", and never saw any ads for it. I love the pacing, and it doesn't surprise me to hear about the improvisation. One touch I like is how last episode the main guy was already moving past Amber, but SHE kept getting super jealous, which is a nice twist on the usual "of course they're going to hook up eventually, but the girl has no idea that the guy likes him and doesn't even think of him that way" that just about every sitcom goes through. Incidentally, that's one think I like about "How I Met Your Mother", since that's the formula they've been following with Robin, yet we know that they're NOT going to end up together, so it feels fresher.

I guess I'd be more peeved if AD hadn't gotten a proper sendoff with time to tie things up i.e. every other Fox show I've ever really liked (Brimstone, Sliders [took forever to get to Scifi], John Doe, God knows what else)

Zed, NOTHING on Fox is even close to being War at Home bad. I can say this because Stacked is off the air for now. Anyone else miss Life on a Stick? I digress.

I didn't give Sons and Daughters a chance because DVR only records two channels at once and there is no way in HELL I can fit a 50th program on Tuesday nights (House, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, American Idol)

And Conviction I was interested in, and it was Law and Order, but that last time that happened was Trial By Jury and we know how that ended.

Originally posted by CRZI'm also a little peeved that they'd bump "American Dad" for a few months in order to try to subject me to their new shows - that tactic didn't work with "The War at Home" and it ain't working now.

I agree with you about "The War at Home". I can't stand that show.

American Dad, however, was shelved because something like 20 of the 24 episodes produced have already been shown. While Family Guy had about 35 episodes (those 10 summer ones and the new season), American Dad didn't. So instead of running reruns for 8 weeks (or blowing the last 4 episodes in Feb/March), they put in on the shelf so, I'd imagine, it would be back for the end of the Simpsons/War at Home/Family Guy seasons.

I caught "The Loop" in its Wednesday debut, and "Free Ride" last Sunday. I preferred "The Loop" better, mostly for the at work gags (though I'm thinking Mimi Rogers' character is going to run her course REAL quick unless they come up with something else for her to do besides hit on the young guy).

I guess "Free Ride" has more potential because it's unscripted. But I don't think either of them will last too long. According to Zap2it, "Free Ride" had an overnight rating of 3.2, for the lowest on FOX of the night (The War at Home had a 4.0).

Originally posted by MayhemE! Online reported that NBC has cancelled "Four Kings" after only 7 episodes.

I think it's a sad state of affairs that I read that sentence and immediately think "What the hell is he talking about, *ONLY* 7 episodes?!? That's LOTS!"

It's hard to remember a time when shows were given a full season to try to find an audience. Now it seems that before they even debut the decision has already been made to cancel them, and the shows are just given 3-4 weeks to change the network's mind.

Originally posted by MayhemE! Online reported that NBC has cancelled "Four Kings" after only 7 episodes.

I think it's a sad state of affairs that I read that sentence and immediately think "What the hell is he talking about, *ONLY* 7 episodes?!? That's LOTS!"

It's hard to remember a time when shows were given a full season to try to find an audience. Now it seems that before they even debut the decision has already been made to cancel them, and the shows are just given 3-4 weeks to change the network's mind.

Tribal Prophet

True, but it was also back in the day when shows would get canned before airing a single episode. Has that happened recently? I know there have been a few cases in the 70's, maybe early 80's.